1001 Inventions wins Best Film in New York

The film 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets, starring Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley, has won eight major industry awards at the 53rd New York Festivals® International Television & Film Awards held on 3rd May 2010 in New York.

The film won the most prestigious award of the evening, Grand Winner for Best Film in addition to five gold medals and two silver medals:

► Grand Winner for Best Film
► Gold Winner for Best Film in Society and Social Issues
► Gold Winner for Best Film in Arts and Humanities
► Gold Winner for Best Direction
► Gold Winner for Best Writing
► Gold Winner for Best Film for an Event Venue
► Silver Winner for Best Narration and Performance
► Silver Winner for Best Cinematography
► Finalist Certificate for Best Original Music

The New York Festivals® International Television & Film Awards recognize "The World's Best Work" in news, documentary, information and entertainment programming as well as in music videos, infomercials, promotion spots, openings and ID's. Now entering its 53nd year, the total number of entries continues to grow, now representing over 30 different countries, making the NYF® Television & Film Awards one of the most well known and widely respected competitions on the globe.

In the movie a group of young school children take a field trip to a dusty old library after their teacher challenges them to research the era known as the “Dark Ages” and find its relevance to present day civilisation, a chore they resent until they meet a mysterious librarian (Kingsley) who takes them on a journey to the past revealing a thousand years of scientific and cultural excellence that took place in the Muslim world between the 7th and 17th century.

The film was also released on the internet where it has proved a huge hit receiving over one million downloads in the first month of being aired.